Valley Sports ReportTIOGA CENTER — Tioga field hockey coach Aubrey Worthing has experience returning, and five newcomers, including a foursome of talented 8th-graders. She's hoping the mix will lead to an improvement in 2026.
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LAST YEAR: 2-14. OPENER: Tioga opens at home Wednesday against Marathon.
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"Our commitment, attitude, respect, and preparedness will be a strength this year," said Worthing. "We expect everyone to be at every practice, practicing how we are going to play, and come with the attitude to learn and work together.
"I think with these expectations, the rest will fall into place," she noted.
"We also have a lot of girls who have been doing travel, so they bring some experience to the team that we have not had in the past," added Worthing. "We are very youthful, but also very coachable and willing to try and learn new things."
Kaylene Sindoni, Aubrey Bennett, and Taylor Sindoni will return at forward for the Tigers, and Liberty Magner and
Cora Szymanski return in the midfield.
Averie Schultheis, Peyton Ross, and Aubrey Bogart return on defense, and Vangie Decker returns at goal keeper.
Paige Fenton will see time at keeper.
"We also have been training two goalies so Paige Fenton will be seeing some time in the cage this season as well," said Worthing.
Newcomers for the Tigers this season are Joslyn Brobst, who will see time at midfield and forward, Ayla Gage, who will see time at forward, and Cassie Kemp, Adelia Davis, and Emily Engelbert, who will all see time in the midfield.
"We have four new 8th-graders who have been moved up and will definitely be making an impact this year," said Worthing.
Youth is a double-edged sword, and Worthing said it is also her biggest concern heading into the season.
"We have no seniors, so leadership will be big this year," said Worthing. "We have also been learning to play with some new players and trying to learn each other as players."
AROUND SECTION IV, DIVISION 3
The Tigers are in Division 3 with Newark Valley, SVEC, Marathon, and Moravia.
"We don't want to underestimate anyone, so they are all the teams to beat," said Worthing. "We want to go into each game ready to play and work on the things that we have focused on in practice and work as a team."
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IN PHOTO: Tioga's Kaylene Sindoni. ... VSR STOCK PHOTO.
